Mattress



Feb. 1o, 1970 E. o. HALLER $493,980

MATTRESS Filed D60. 18, 1967 ,ff A HGr- L if, 20

42 Q6 Q i E.- Z

g2 1 rrr- E 54 54 52 INVENTOR. 4 favs-$7' a HAL/.ee 50 Q United States Patent O 3,493,980 MATTRESS Ernest O. Haller, 3608 N. Linda, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73112 Filed Dec. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 691,269 Int. Cl. A47c 23/ 04 U.S. Cl. 5-531 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sanitary mattress construction including vertically extending interior coil springs, pads extending across the tops and bottoms of the springs and secured to the springs, at least one side panel extending between the pads and disposed on the sides and end of the mattress, the side panels being secured to a plurality of the springs, and top and bottom mattress covers detachably secured to the side panels. The side panel preferably has zipper elements secured to its upper and lower edges, land both the top and bottom mattress covers have zipper elements engaging the zipper elements carried by the side panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to mattress structures, and more particularly, relates to sanitary mattresses which are constructed to permit the top and bottom covers of the mattress to be quickly and easily removed and replaced or laundered.

Description of the prior art It has been proposed in various types of cushion and mattress structures to provide for the removal or detachment of the upper or lower exposed panels for laundering purposes. In some instances, this has been accomplished by simply making the entire cover of the mattress or cushion removable by releasing stays or a zipper. Frequently, however, this construction is disadvantaged by the propensity of the cover to shift about on the mattress 1n use. v

In other mattress and cushion structures heretofore in use, the bottom and/or top panels of the mattress or cushion have been made individually removable from the body of the mattress or cushion, and have been anchored or secured to this body in some way while in use. The cushion structure depicted in Le Barre U.S. Patent 2,870,- 824 is an example of this type of construction. In the Le Barre structure, the body portion of the cushion is made of lfoam rubber, and zipper elements used to secure upper and lower covers to this cushion are provided on a fabric securing tape which is adhered or glued to the side and end edges of the foam rubber body. Though this type of construction might be utilized in the case of a foam rubber mattress, as was indeed contemplated by Le Barre, it obviously could not be used to provide for removable covers on an innerspring type mattress where no sub-support would exist for the fabric securing tape. Even in structures utilizing foam rubber or other solid elastomer body constructions, securement of the zipper elements by adhesion of the fabric securing tape to the body would present some problem of detachment of this tape after extended periods of use during :which the foam rubber was repeatedly flexed, compressed, expanded and bent, and air was expelled from the pores thereof against the inner surface of the tape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention provides an improved mattress structure in which a prebuilt, reinforced side panel or border is secured to the coil springs of the mattress and Patented Feb. 10, 1970 .u used to provide anchorage for top and bottom cover members which are detachably secured to the side panel and extend across the top and bottom of the mattress. Broadly described, the mattress of the invention comprises a plurality of coil springs, flexible upholstering extending across the tops and bottoms of the coil springs and secured to a plurality of the coil springs, a side panel secured around the coil springs, and top and bottom covers detachably secured to the side panel and extending over and across the upholstering.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upholstering includes a plurality of layers of soft, exible material supported on one side by the coil springs, and having the other side covered by a moisture resistant and preferably waterproof cover or sheet. The side panel is preferably a quilted, laminated structure having a strong fabric, such as pre-shrunk silk damask, or any print or woven fabric forming an outer panel section, a backing of cheesecloth or the like, and cotton felt or batting positioned between the outer panel section and the cheesecloth. The side panel further carries a pair of ilanges by which it is firmly secured to the outer or peripheral coil springs of the mattress structure. It is further preferred in the construction of the mattress to attach the top and bottom covers to the side panel by means of a zipper connection.

A major object of the invention is to provide an improved mattress which has removable top and bottom covers and can, therefore, be more sanitarily used than mattresses of the type having fixed, permanent covers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mattress having removable covers which, when placed on the mattress, will not creep or shift about during its use.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a mattress lwhich is very comfortable to use and which has a long and defect-free service life.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description of the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE l is a perspective view of a mattress constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a portion of the mattress with parts of the covering structure broken away to show the manner in which the covering structure is constructed,

and to better illustrate the manner in which the spring elements of the mattress are constructed and arranged.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Lead lines carrying arrowheads have been utilized to designate structural combinations which include a pluprebuilt reinforced side panel or border 16. The top,A

cover 12 and bottom cover 14 each carry at their peripheral edges, zipper elements 18 and 20, respectively, andI these zipper elements are engageable with mating zipper-f elements 22 and 24 secured to the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the side panel 16. In the embodlment of the mattress illustrated in the drawings, a plurality of coll spring elements are disposed in the interior of the lmattress, and include internal springs 26 and external peripheral springs 28. The springs, of course, extend vertically, and as depicted in FIGURE 3, are aligned in rows in accordance with conventional mattress construction. Extending transversely with respect to the rows of the coil springs 26 and 28 are a plurality of so-called flexolator wires 30 which bridge across the tops of the rows of coil springs and assist in their alignment and impart structural strength to the mattress. Adjacent coil springs in each of the rows are held in juxtaposition to each other and against transverse movement by a spiral retaining element 32 which loops around and engages the abutting convolutions of the adjacent springs in each row. The spiral retaining elements 32, as depicted in FIGURE 3, extend substantially parallel to the tlexolator wires 30. The flexolator wires and the spiral retaining elements are retained in their positions relative to each other by heavy hemp or jute cords 34 which extend along the aligned rows of the coil springs 26 and 28, and engage the exolator wires and the spiral retaining elements. The provision of the ilexolator wires 30, the spiral retaining elements 32, and the cords 34 at the upper end of the several coil springs is duplicated beneath the coil springs, that is, on the lower side of the mattress to provide support and alignment both from above and below.

The upholstering of the mattress includes, in a position above and below the sets of coil springs, a pad or layer 36 of soft, flexible material, preferably sisal, which is placed in contact with the upper convolutions of the coil springs and extends over the transverse width and longitudinal length of the mattress. The sisal pad 36 is o-verlain by a pad or layer 38 of an elastomeric material, preferably foam or latex rubber or the like. The pad or layer 38 of foam rubber is preferably about one-half inch in thickness. Overlying the pad 38 of elastomeric material, a soft cotton felt layer 40 is superimposed and also extends the entire transverse Width and longitudinal length of the mattress. Finally, a thin sheet 42 of waterproof, substantially impermeable material is positioned over the cotton felt layer 40 and is extended over the side and end edges of the upholstery substrate formed b-y the cotton felt 40, the elastomeric pad 38, and the sisal pad 36. The edges of the waterproof sheet 42 are secured, along with the edges of the sisal pad, to preferably the second convolution of each of the peripheral coil springs 28 by means of a hog ring 44 or other suitable clip. The upholstery is thus held firmly in place on the upper and lower sides of the mattress and is protected by the waterproof cover sheet 42.

Around the sides and at the ends/f the mattress, a prebuilt, reinforced side panel or border 16 is disposed and is secured to the peripheral coil springs 28 in a manner hereinafter described. The reinforced side panel 16 is preferably a quilted structure which includes an outer panel section 46 which is constructed of a heavy fabric, preferably damask or woven or printed material. The outer panel 36 is sewn by the quilting operation to a backing 48 which may he constructed of cheesecloth or similar light flexible material and a stuing material, such as paper cotton 50, is interpositioned between the outer panel section 46 and the backing 48. The quilting stitches employed are indicated by reference numeral 52 in FIG- URE 1.

Secured between the upper ends of the backing 48 and the outer panel section 46 is one edge of a securing fabric flange or ap 54 which extends the entire length of the reinforced side panel 16 and projects inwardly from the backing 48. The securing flanges 54 are provided at both the top and lbottom edges of the reinforced side panels 16 and extend inwardly for securement to convolutions of the peripheral coil springs 28 by means of hog rings 56 or other suitable clipping devices. Also secured to the upper and lower edges of the reinforced side panel 16 are a pair of zipper elements 22 and 24 as hereinbefore described. The zipper elements 22 and 24 extend around the entire peripheral edge of the mattress and over the entire length of the reinforced side panel 16. The transverse width of the reinforced side panel 16 is such that the zipper elements 22 and 24 will be positioned approximately opposite the top and bottom convolutions of the peripheral coil springs 28, and the function of the zipper elements 22 and 24 will be explained hereinafter.

The top cover 12 and bottom cover 14 of the mattress 10 of the invention is a fabric, substantially monoplanar member which may be slightly contoured at the edges and corners in order to conform geometrically to the desired mattress contour. Preferably the top and bottom covers 12 and 14 are fabricated from a damask material or Woven or print pre-shrunk. At the peripheral edge of the top cover 12 and the bottom cover 14, these covers carry zipper elements 18 and 20 and these zipper elements are dimensioned for engagement with the zipper elements 22 and 24 secured to the upper and lower edges of the reinforced side panel 16. Thus, the top cover 12 and bottom cover 14 of the mattress may be quickly removed from the mattress for laundering so that the mattress is extremely sanitary in use, and so that the wear sustained by the top and bottom covers 12 and 14 can be obviated by replacing these covers without replacing the entire mattress.

Although it is known to provide removable cover panels in various types of cushion structures, including mattresses, the present invention provides an improved mattress structure which includes the highly desira-ble feature of permitting both the top and bottom covers of the mattress to be removed. The reinforced side panels 16 of the mattress assure that the zipper elements carried thereby will be always readily accessible for engagement by the zipper elements carried by the top and bottom panels, and that the mattress structure will enjoy a long service life, despite the frequent removal of the top and bottom covers 12 and 14, respectively. The manner in which the upholstering for the mattress is constructed assures a high degree of comfort in the use of the mattress, and the sanitary advantages of being able to frequently remove and launder the covers are believed to Ibe apparent.

Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been depicted and described in the foregoing specication and drawings, various changes or modications can be `made in the structure without departure from the basic principles which underlie the invention.

`What is claimed is:

1. A mattress comprising:

a plurality of coil springs having substantially parallel,

vertically extending axes;

upholstery extending across the tops and bottoms of the coil springs and secured to a plurality of said springs;

a side panel having an upper edge and a lower edge and extending around said springs and forming the vertical side and end edges of the mattress, said side panel comprising:

a generally horizontally extending outer panel section having an upper edge and a lower edge;

a backing sewn to said outer panel section and extending substantially parallel thereto;

flexible padding material secured between said outer panel section and said backing;

a rst ange secured to said outer panel section adjacent the upper edge thereof and extending therefrom into juxtaposition to a plurality of coil springs located adjacent the vertical side and end edges of the mattress; and

a second flange secured to said outer panel section adjacent the lower edge thereof and extending into juxtaposition to said plurality of coil springs located adjacent the vertical side and end edges of the mattress;

means securing said first flange to convolutions of a plurality of said coil springs which are adjacent the vertical side and end edges of the mattress;

means securing said second flange to the convolutions of a plurality of said coil springs which are adjacent said Vertical side and end edges of the mattress;

a top cover extended across and covering the upholstery extending across the tops of said coil springs, said top cover having a peripheral edge adjacent the upper edge of said side panel;

means for detachably securing the peripheral edge of said top cover to the upper edge of said generally horizontally extending outer panel section;

a bottom cover extended across and covering the upholstery extending across the bottoms of said coil springs, said bottom cover having a peripheral edge adjacent the lower edge of said side panel; and

means securing the peripheral edge of said bottom cover to the lower edge of said outer panel section.

2. A mattress as defined in claim 1 wherein said upholstery includes a sheet of waterproof material; and

at least one pad of flexible material interposed between said sheet and said springs.

3. A mattress as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for detachably securing said top cover to said side panel comprises spaced, horizontally extending zipper elements extending at least a portion of the way around the periphery of the mattress.

4. A mattress as defined in claim 3 wherein said means securing said bottom cover to the side panel comprises a iirst zipper element on said side panel, and a second zipper element on said bottom cover engageable with said first zipper element.

5. A mattress comprising:

a plurality of vertically extending coil springs aligned in rows and including peripheral springs and internal springs;

means interconnecting and maintaining the alignment of said coil springs;

upper upholstery padding extending across the tops of said springs and connected to some of said peripheral springs;

lower upholstery padding extending across the bottoms of said springs and connected to some of said peripheral springs;

protective means covering said upper upholstery padding to prevent the contact of water therewith;

side panel means extending along the sides and ends of the mattress and secured to a plurality of said peripheral springs, said side panel means extending in a substantially vertical plane and having an upper edge and a lower edge;

a zipper element secured to the upper edge of said side panel means;

a top cover of textile fabric extending across said protective means and forming the exposed upper supporting surface of the mattress, said top cover having a peripheral edge adjacent the upper edge of said side panel means;

a zipper element secured to the peripheral edge of said top cover and engageable with the zipper element secured to the upper edge of said side panel means; and

a bottom cover covering the lower upholstery padding and secured to said side panel means.

6. A mattress as defined in claim 5 wherein said upper and lower upholstery padding in each instance comprises:

a sisal pad in contact with said springs; and

an elastomer pad overlying said jute pad on the opposite side thereof from said springs.

7. A mattress as defined in claim 5 wherein said side panel means comprises:

an outer panel section secured to said first-mentioned zipper element;

a backing sewn to said outer panel section;

flexible padding material interposed between said backing and said outer panel section;

a iirst flexible fabric tlange secured to said outer panel section adjacent said first-mentioned zipper element and extending horizontally and parallel to said firstmentioned zipper element;

a second flexible fabric llange secured to said outer panel section and spaced vertically downwardly from said rst flange and extending substantially parallel thereto,

and wherein said mattress is further characterized as including means securing each of said ilanges to vertically spaced convolutions of a plurality of said peripheral springs.

8. A mattress as dened in claim 7 and further characterized to include zipper elements detachably securing said bottom cover to said outer panel section.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,154,910 4/1939 Magril 5-351 2,879,524 3/ 1959 Eisen 5-354 2,611,910 9/1952 Bell 5--351 3,055,021 9/ 1962 Rymland 5-351 3,173,159 3/1965 Hart 5-354X 3,286,284 11/1966 Klogether et al. 5-335 3,287,749 11/ 1966 Marsico 5-354 X 2,870,824 1/ 1959 Le Barre 5-354 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 5-354 

